Financial reporting

With myriad issues ranging from green accounting,differential standards, technology advancements tax preparer registration, IFRSadoption and regulatory reform, the role of the CPA will be even more criticalgoing forward, according to American Institute of CPAs chairman Robert Harris.

The Group of North American Insurance Enterprises, an association representing the CFOs of major life insurance companies in Bermuda, Canada, and the United States, has joined with four other insurance industry trade associations based in North and South America, to urge the International Accounting Standards Board to reconsider its decision to apply a single measurement model to both life and non-life insurance contracts.

The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants has released a new report urging businesses to focus more on their ethical responsibilities and prioritize the recruitment of senior executives and financial staff with strong ethical compasses.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board said they intend to prioritize the major convergence projects ahead of them as they try to reach the goal of melding U.S. and international accounting standards, with some projects pushed back further next year.

The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants has told the Internal Revenue Service it should withdraw its proposed rule that would require companies with more than $10 million in total assets to disclose uncertain tax positions on a new schedule.

The American Institute of CPAs’ Peer Review Board has released an exposure draft containing proposed revisions to the guidance for the standards governing CPA firm peer reviews.

Organizations worldwide lose an estimated 5 percent of their annual revenues to fraud, potentially amounting to over $2.9 trillion, according to a new study.

Goodwill impairments at U.S.-based companies fell dramatically last year, according to a new study.

Check out the digital edition of the June 7-20, 2010 issue of Accounting Today.

The California Society of CPAs has honored seven CPAs with its Women to Watch Awards at its recent Women's Leadership Forum here.

The International Accounting Standards Board has proposed changes in the standards for presenting items under other comprehensive income.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued an eagerly anticipated exposure draft of a proposed accounting standards update for financial instruments, a major sticking point in FASB’s efforts to converge U.S. GAAP with International Financial Reporting Standards.

Barry Melancon has been president and CEO of the American Institute of CPAs since 1995. Under his leadership, the AICPA has spearheaded a number of initiatives to benefit the profession and the general public, including private company reporting standards and 360 Degrees of Financial Literacy. He is a member of the AICPA’s delegation to the International Federation of Accountants, chairman of XBRL-US, vice chairman of the Center for Audit Quality, and a founding board member of the Global Accounting Alliance. He serves on the board of the U. S. Chamber Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness.

Thirty-seven percent of U.S. CFOs and senior controllers believe that a balance sheet should display both the fair value (exit value) and amortized cost of assets, according to a new survey by Grant Thornton, consistent with a forthcoming proposal from the Financial Accounting Standards Board regarding the presentation of financial instruments.

In an effort to draw a wider population of qualified people into the accounting profession, members of the American Institute of CPAs’ governing council unanimously approved revisions to expand its membership categories.

Members of the American Institute of CPAs heard an update from the chairman of the Blue Ribbon Panel, the task force charged with addressing how GAAP accounting standards can best meet the needs of users of private company financial statements, at the AICPA’s Spring Council meeting.

Redefining the landscape is the mantra here at the American Institute of CPA’s Spring Council and president and chief executive Barry Melancon hit that message home during his report to members on Monday.

IMGCAP(1)]Let’s be honest. Between the thousands of quality audits done every day by diligent CPAs and the headline-grabbing debacles like Madoff and Enron, which do you think sticks out more in the public’s mind? We all know the answer to this.

The American Institute of CPA is teaming up with the Society for Human Resource Management to create a national award that recognizes employers who offer financial education programs for their staff.

A professor of accounting at the Carroll School of Management at Boston College is the 2010 recipient of the Distinguished Achievement in Accounting Education Award from the AICPA.